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Position Sensorswe will look at a variety of devices which are classed asInput Devices and are therefore called "Sensors" and inparticular those sensors which are Positional in naturewhich means that they are referenced either to or fromsome fixed point or position. As their name implies,these types of sensors provide a "position" feedback.One method of determining a position, is to use either"distance", which could be the distance between twopoints such as the distance travelled or moved awayfrom some fixed point, or by "rotation" (angularmovement). For example, the rotation of a robots wheelto determine its distance travelled along the ground.Either way, Position Sensors can detect the movement ofan object in a straight line using Linear Sensors or by itsangular movement using Rotational Sensors.

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The Potentiometer.• The most commonly used of all the "Position Sensors", is the potentiometer because it is an inexpensive and easy to use position sensor. It has a wiper contact linked to a mechanical shaft that can be either angular (rotational) or linear (slider type) in its movement, and which causes the resistance value between the wiper/slider and the two end connections to change giving an electrical signal output that has a proportional relationship between the actual wiper position on the resistive track and its resistance value. In other words, resistance is proportional to position.

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• Potentiometers come in a wide range of designs and sizes such as the commonly available round rotational type or the longer and flat linear slider types. When used as a positional sensor the moveable object is connected directly to the shaft or slider of the potentiometer and a DC reference voltage is applied across the two outer fixed connections forming the resistive element while the output signal is taken from the wiper terminal of the sliding contact as shown below thus producing a potential or voltage divider type circuit output. Then for example, if you apply a voltage of say 10v across the resistive element of the potentiometer the maximum output voltage would be 10 volts and the wiper will vary the output signal from 0 to 10 volts, with 5 volts indicating that the wiper or slider is at the half-way centre position.The output signal (Vout) from the potentiometer is takenfrom the centre wiper connection as it moves along theresistive track, and is proportional to the angular positionof the shaft.

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• When the armature is moved from one end to the other through the centre position the output voltages changes from maximum to zero and back to maximum again but in the process changes its phase angle by 180 degs. This enables the LVDT to produce an output AC signal whose magnitude represents the amount of movement from the centre position and whose phase angle represents the direction of movement of the core.• A typical application of this type of sensor would be a pressure transducers, were the pressure being measured pushes against a diaphragm to produce a force.• Advantages of the linear variable differential transformer, or LVDT compared to a resistive potentiometer are that its linearity, that is its voltage output to displacement is excellent, very good accuracy, good resolution, high sensitivity as well as frictionless operation and is sealed against hostile environments.

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Inductive Proximity Sensors.• Another type of inductive sensor in common use is the Inductive Proximity Sensor also called an Eddy current sensor. While they do not actually measure displacement or angular rotation they are mainly used to detect the presence of an object in front of them or within a close proximity, hence the name proximity sensors.• Proximity sensors, are non-contact devices that use a magnetic field for detection with the simplest magnetic sensor being the reed switch. In an inductive sensor, a coil is wound around an iron core within an electromagnetic field to form an inductive loop. When a ferromagnetic material is placed within the eddy current field generated around the sensor, such as a ferromagnetic metal plate or metal screw, the inductance of the coil changes significantly. The proximity sensors detection circuit detects this change producing an output voltage. Therefore, inductive proximity sensors operate under the electrical principle of Faradays Law of inductance.

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• An inductive proximity sensor has four main components; The oscillator which produces the electromagnetic field, the coil which generates the magnetic field, the detection circuit which detects any change in the field when an object enters it and the output circuit which produces the output signal, either with normally closed (NC) or normally open (NO) contacts.• Inductive proximity sensors allow for the detection of metallic objects in front of the sensor head without any physical contact of the object itself being detected. This makes them ideal for use in dirty or wet environments. The "sensing" range of proximity sensors is very small, typically 0.1mm to 12mm.

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Rotary Encoders.• Rotary Encoders resemble potentiometers mentioned earlier but are non-contact optical devices used for converting the angular position of a rotating shaft into an analogue or digital data code. In other words, they convert mechanical movement into an electrical signal (preferably digital). All optical encoders work on the same basic principle. Light from an LED or infra-red light source is passed through a rotating high-resolution encoded disk that contains the required code patterns, either binary, grey code or BCD. Photo detectors scan the disk as it rotates and an electronic circuit processes the information into a digital form as a stream of binary output pulses that are fed to counters or controllers which determine the actual angular position of the shaft.• There are two basic types of rotary optical encoders, Incremental Encoders and Absolute Position Encoders.

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Incremental Encoder• Incremental Encoders, also known as quadrature encoders or relative rotary encoder, are the simplest of the two position sensors. Their output is a series of square wave pulses generated by a photocell arrangement as the coded disk, with evenly spaced transparent and dark lines called segments on its surface, moves or rotates past the light source. The encoder produces a stream of square wave pulses which, when counted, indicates the angular position of the rotating shaft. Incremental encoders have two outputs called quadrature outputs that are 90o out of phase and the direction of rotation can be determined from output sequence. The number of transparent and dark segments or slots on the disk determines the resolution of the device and increasing the number of lines in the pattern increases the resolution per degree of rotation. Typical encoded discs have a resolution of up to 256 pulses or 8-bits per rotation.

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• The simplest incremental encoder is called a tachometer. It has one single square wave output and is often used in unidirectional applications where basic position or speed information only is required. The "Quadrature" or "Sine wave" encoder is the more common and has two output square waves commonly called channel A and channel B. This device uses two photo detectors, slightly offset from each other by 90o thereby producing two separate sine and cosine output signals.

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• By using the Arc Tangent mathematical function the angle of the shaft in radians can be calculated. Generally, the optical disk used in rotary position encoders is circular, then the resolution of the output will be given as: θ = 360/n, where n equals the number of segments on coded disk. Then for example, the number of segments required to give an incremental encoder a resolution of 1o will be: 1o = 360/n, therefore, n = 360 windows, etc. Also the direction of rotation is determined by noting which channel produces an output first, either channel A or channel B giving two directions of rotation, A leads B or B leads A. This arrangement is shown below.

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• One main disadvantage of incremental encoders when used as a position sensor, is that they require external counters to determine the absolute angle of the shaft within a given rotation.• If the power is momentarily shut off, or if the encoder misses a pulse due to noise or a dirty disc, the resulting angular information will produce an error.• One way of overcoming this disadvantage is to use absolute position encoders.

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Absolute Position Encoder• Absolute Position Encoders are more complex than quadrature encoders. They provide a unique output code for every single position of rotation indicating both position and direction. Their coded disk consists of multiple concentric "tracks" of light and dark segments. Each track is independent with its own photo detector to simultaneously read a unique coded position value for each angle of movement. The number of tracks on the disk corresponds to the binary "bit"-resolution of the encoder so a 12-bit absolute encoder would have 12 tracks and the same coded value only appears once per revolution.

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• One main advantage of an absolute encoder is its non-volatile memory which retains the exact position of the encoder without the need to return to a "home" position if the power fails. Most rotary encoders are defined as "single-turn" devices, but absolute multi-turn devices are available, which obtain feedback over several revolutions by adding extra code disks.